Council Of African Affairs Paul Robeson Negatives X 2 New York Manhattan 1946

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 176270373061 COUNCIL OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS PAUL ROBESON NEGATIVES X 2 NEW YORK MANHATTAN 1946. 2 NEGATIVES WITH ORIGINAL ENVELOPE AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME OF THE NEGATIVES ON THIN PAPER. PHOTOGRAPHS ARE BY JOURNALIST PHOTOGRAPHER STEVE DERRY AND EACH MEASURES 4X5 INCHES. ALL WERE TAKEN DURING THE COUNCIL OF AFRICAN AFFIARS JAN 7 1946. THE MANILA ENVELOPE HAS AGE. THE NEGATIVES ARE MUCH CLEARER THAN WHAT I AM POSTING. COULD MAKE NICE POSTERS. . . . PHOTOGRAPHER DERRY DATE JAN 7 1946 STORY COUNCIL OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS PAUL ROBESON AND MARIAN ANDERSON  SGT EUGENE LIST WHO PLAYED FOR THE BIG THREE AT POSTDAM PLAERS FOR THE COUNCIL OF AFRICAN AFFIARS  SGT LIST AT THE MICROPHONE . . . The Council on African Affairs (CAA) was founded in 1942 and quickly emerged as the leading voice of anti-colonialism and Pan-Africanism in the United States and abroad before becoming a casualty of Cold War liberalism and anti-communism in the early 1950s. Paul Robeson served as the CAA’s chairman for most of its existence while W.E.B. Du Bois served as vice-chair and head of the Africa Aid Committee. Alphaeus Hunton, Jr. was the group’s executive director, editor of its publication, New Africa, and the motive force behind much of its activity and vision. Despite its radical politics, in the early and mid 1940s the Council on African Affairs benefited from the support of a range of liberal activists and intellectuals, including E. Franklin Frazier, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Rayford Logan, indicating the widespread appeal of its program and message.
The Council on African Affairs (CAA) was founded in 1942 and quickly emerged as the leading voice of anti-colonialism and Pan-Africanism in the United States and abroad before becoming a casualty of Cold War liberalism and anti-communism in the early 1950s. Paul Robeson served as the CAA’s chairman for most of its existence while W.E.B. Du Bois served as vice-chair and head of the Africa Aid Committee. Alphaeus Hunton, Jr. was the group’s executive director, editor of its publication, New Africa, and the motive force behind much of its activity and vision. Despite its radical politics, in the early and mid 1940s the Council on African Affairs benefited from the support of a range of liberal activists and intellectuals, including E. Franklin Frazier, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Rayford Logan, indicating the widespread appeal of its program and message. The Council on African Affairs articulated and promoted a fundamental linkage between the struggle of African Americans and the fate of colonized peoples in Africa, Asia and elsewhere in the world. Among a host of other campaigns, it lobbied the federal government and the United Nations and lent material support on behalf of Indian independence, striking trade unionists in Nigeria, and African famine relief, all while publicizing the connections between these campaigns and its larger critique of colonialism and capitalism. The CAA’s most significant work involved South Africa, where it supported striking miners and helped direct worldwide attention to the African National Congress’s struggle against the Union of South Africa government and its implementation of racial apartheid. The Council on African Affairs advocated an internationalization of domestic civil rights, support for African liberation groups, and a non-aligned stance on the part of developing nations toward the Cold War superpowers. Combined with many CAA leaders’ past and current associations with the Communist Party, this position had become politically untenable by the early 1950s. Liberal supporters abandoned the CAA and the federal government cracked down on its operations. In 1953 the CAA was charged with subversion under the McCarran Act. Its principle leaders, including Robeson, Du Bois, and Hunton, were subjected to harassment, indictments, and in the case of Hunton, imprisonment. Under the weight of internal disputes, government repression, and financial hardships, the Council on African Affairs disbanded in 1955. slanda Goode Robeson was the wife of the famous singer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson. However, she was an important shero in her own right, distinguishing herself both in political activism and as an anthropologist. The daughter of a freed slave, Essie, born in 1896, was passionately interested in Africa and the conditions that made the mother continent vulnerable. Her mother, Eslanda Cardoza Goode, was of mixed race, born among South Carolina’s free blacks to an octoroon mother and a wealthy Spanish Jew, Isaac Nunez Cardoza. Essie’s uncle Francis Louis Cardoza was named as “the most highly educated Negro in America” by Henry Ward Beecher. When Essie was six, her father died of alcohol abuse and the family moved to New York City just in time for the birth of the Harlem Renaissance. Essie was well educated herself, attending Teachers College at Columbia University and one year of medical school, ultimately receiving her degree in chemistry from Columbia. Her other interests included a strong proclivity for politics and the desire to fight for racial equality. Essie was on her way to becoming a model for the new equality when she became the first black person to work in the pathology and surgery departments of Columbia Presbyterian, where she ran the lab. In the twenties, she met and married Paul Robeson; after hearing him sing at a party, Essie became convinced he had a future in show business. She talked him into performing and soon his career was launched. By the mid-twenties, Paul was the toast of Europe and America; Essie quit her job to travel with Paul and manage his career. However, over and over the duo suffered the sickening hypocrisy of a white society that lauded Paul as the toast of stage and screen while not allowing Essie and him to eat in the same restaurants as the white music patrons. To avoid the pain, Essie began to stay home and focus upon their shared dream of a modern black family— emancipated, educated, and enlightened. In the thirties, the ever intellectually restless Essie developed an intense interest in anthropology and in Africa. Studying at London University and the London School of Economics, she became even more radicalized: “I soon became fed up with white students and teachers ‘interpreting’ the Negro mind and character to me,” she wrote later. “Especially when I felt, as I did very often, that their interpretation was wrong.” She decided to make her own conclusions. She traveled to Africa several times, exploring widely, up the Congo and into the heartland by any means available. Her exploration led her to emphasize the importance of racial pride in overcoming racism, and she banded with other black people to found the Council of African Affairs. She was always extremely outspoken about the plight of her people as a result of slavery and colonialism and never backed down from a debate. She drew fire when she suggested the Soviet Union had created a better foundation for equality than the United States. In the forties, during World War II, she was especially vocal, perceiving that the war against Fascism was an opportunity for a more racially united and equal opportunity America. Her book, African Journey, was published in 1945; that same year, as a representative of the Council on African Affairs, Essie participated in the conference that founded the United Nations. In the fifties, the activity and views of the Robesons were brought to the attention of Senator Joseph McCarthy who called her before the House Un-American Activities Committee. McCarthy was no match for the brilliance and verbal dexterity of Essie, who turned the tables on him, drilling him with questions about the black civil rights issue. But McCarthy got his revenge, revoking both their passports, reducing Paul’s income from international concert tours to almost nil. This only spurred Essie on to greater activism—ultimately her passport was reinstated and she traveled to Germany to receive the Peace Medal and the Clara Zetkin Medal, a governmental award for women who have fought for world peace. She continued to write articles and give speeches on behalf of equality and justice until she died in 1965. No matter what the personal cost, Essie fought to free her people from the invisible bonds that still held them back. Her work was invaluable in the civil rights movement; her call for absolute racial equality rang clear and true: “No man can be free until all men are free.” “I believe there will never be peace in the world until people have achieved what they fought and died for.” — Eslanda Goode Robeson This black-led, anti-colonial organization took shape in 1939 after Robeson returned to the United States as the chairman of the International Committee on African Affairs with Max Yergan as executive secretary. The board featured a crosssection of African-American leaders including Garveyites, Pan Africanists, nationalists and integrationists foreshadowing the creation of TransAfrica in 1977. Among the board of directors were Ralph Bunche and Mordecai Johnson of Howard University; Y.M.C.A. secretaries Charming Tobias and F.E. DeFrantz; Rene Maran, a 12 Caribbean-born novelist who was the committee's representative in France; Dr. Rosebery T. Bokwe, a black South African who was also a member of the African National Congress; and five white liberals. 24 By 1943, this membership list included other prominent African Americans like Dr. Alphaeus Hunton a former Howard University professor, Charlotta Bass, a Garveyite and publisher of the California Eagle, E. Franklin Frazier, professor of sociology at Howard University, Earl Dickerson, president of the black National Bar Association and William Yansey Bell, professor of theology at Gammon Theological Seminary, Mary McLeod Bethune of the National Association of Negro Women and A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. 25 Scholar and Pan Africanist W.E.B. Du Bois was to join the CAA as vice chairman in 1948 after being sacked, again, from the NAACP for his radical political perspective. Alphaeus Hunton, Charlotta Bass, Du Bois and Robeson reflected the CAA's radical position in the post-war period. Hunton, who was the editor of the CAA's journal New Africa and Paul Robeson's right hand man, was a former English professor at Howard University who had been educated at Howard, Harvard and New York universities. Hunton became a Marxist in the 1930s and played an active role in the Washington branch of the National Negro Congress. 26 Hunton and Eslanda Robeson also represented the CAA at the United Nations where they were deeply involved in anti-colonial politics and initiated the involvement of Americans in the campaign to impose global sanctions on the Union of South Africa. 13 The CAA focused on South Africa from the outset and worked in tandem with African nationalists to influence Congress. In 1945, the CAA was the only organization in the United States to take note of a devastating famine in South Africa. Responding to appeals from the ANC, the CAA set up the National Sponsors' Committee for South African Famine Relief. The campaign began with a rally of five thousand at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on 7 January 1946, which was followed by rallies in forty major cities throughout the United States. 27 New Africa described the Harlem rally as "One of the greatest meetings ever held in Harlem." 28 Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson addressed the meeting, among others. According to the article, the keynote of the meeting was a message of support sent to Dr. R.T. Bokwe, a member of the Council of African Affairs and the African National Congress in South Africa. The message read: We want our brothers and sisters in South Africa to know that they have friends here in America who realize that the fight against discrimination in the United States can be won only as part of the war against human exploitation and oppression in South Africa and everywhere else. We are your allies and together we shall achieve the first people's victory. Several thousand cans of food and cash, together valued at about $14,000 was collected in the campaign as "a practical demonstration of the unity between the people of this country and the Africans." The meeting unanimously approved resolutions sent to Prime Minister Jan Smuts of South Africa, the United Nations and the U.S. State Department. The messages called on the UN to "to insure the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race in the Union of South Africa." They also urged the international community not 14 to grant South Africa "the retention of authority over the mandate territory of Southwest Africa, or the right of trusteeship or control over any other territory unless and until the Dominion's discriminatory practices embodied in the pass laws, color 29 bar, residential restrictions, and other devices have been abrogated." During the South African miners' strike in 1946, the CAA organized a meeting in Madison Square Garden attended by 19,000 to "cast a searing spotlight on the vicious discrimination in the Union of South Africa and the plight of the African millions resident there." 30 The rally opposed the annexation of Namibia; demanded an investigation of racism; the abolition of pass laws and restrictions on land ownership; and condemned US support for South African whites. 31 At the meeting, Robeson argued that Africa was the "jackpot" of the post-war world because it was the source of strategic minerals like uranium, cobalt and industrial diamonds that were used to make American bombs. He assailed the U.S. for supporting white supremacy in southern Africa and called on the West to implement the Atlantic Charter's promise of self-determination. 32 The meeting, which was descnbed as the largest meeting on African issues ever held in the United States, adopted a "Charter of African Freedom" that urged the United States and South Africa to abolish racial segregation. 33 Although apartheid became official policy in South Africa in 1948, the campaign for international sanctions was launched by India and the Council on African Affairs at the first General Assembly meeting in London in 1946. The Council on African Affairs, which had been formed in 1937 to lobby for African causes, 15 maintained a lobbyist at the UN form the outset. In 1946, CAA lobbyists Alphaeus Hunton and Eslanda Goode-Robeson successfully lobbied against South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts' attempt to annex South West Africa (now Namibia) with the blessing of the United Nations. Foreshadowing anti-apartheid activism in the 1980s, CAA members (with the support of members of the liberation movements) attended sessions of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Non-self-governing Territories, the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly, distributed literature prepared by the CAA and personally lobbied members of the Trusteeship Council. 34 Although the UN refused to allow the annexation, the United States voted with South Africa. U.S. representative John F. Dulles, said: "I do not feel that the United States, in V1ew of its own record, was justified in adopting a holier-than-thou attitude toward the Union of South Africa." 35 In 1947, Dulles again told the United Nations that it was regrettable that South Africa had not complied with the request of the United Nations for information but that the United Nations could not force South Africa to bring the territory under trusteeship. The United States eventually requested that the issue be reviewed by the International Court of Justice. Meanwhile, South Africa proceeded to incorporate the mandate territory through the South West Africa Act of 1949. 36 Hunton and Eslanda Robeson also worked behind he scenes to shape the antiracism resolution presented by India's representative Vyaya Pandit Nehru. 37 India's representative, V.L. Pandit, challenged South Africa's right to exclude people of 16 Indian descent from voting. To support India's call for sanctions, the CAA organized a letter writing campaign to President Truman, the U.S. State Department and the United States delegate to the UN, urging "full support to the Indian government's petition to the United Nations." 38 On December 8, 1946, the U.S. representative, John Foster Dulles, voted "No" on a majority resolution that India and South Africa report on the next session on the treatment of Indians in South Africa. 39 The General Assembly also proposed that negotiations take place between India, Pakistan and South Africa with respect to the treatment of Indians in South Africa. Both the United States and South Africa voted "No." On the same day the General Assembly plenary meeting passed Resolution 616 (VII) A to establish a United Nations Commission to study the government of South Africa and its white supremacist system. The United States abstained. 40 The representative of India, Sir Maharaj Singh, noted the CAA's work on behalf of South West Africa during the 1947 session of the General Assembly. The African National Congress also congratulated the CAA during its 1947 annual conference when it adopted a resolution saying: "Congress desires to make special mention of the Council on African Affairs for its noble efforts to defend fundamental human rights." In 1 948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafted by the United States and colonial powers including Prime Minister Jan Smuts of the Union of South Africa. Despite its dubious origins, the UN charter, like the United Nations itself, was to become an important site of struggle in the antiapartheid movement. During the drafting process, the commission had received 17 petitions from the National Negro Congress, the Council on African Affairs and the NAACP urging the investigation of racial discrimination in the United States and South Africa. The Council on African Affairs called on the newly formed Commission on Human Rights to "give specific consideration to the flagrant violation of the most elementary principles of human rights in South Africa where Africans are kept in a status of permanent subservience to a white minority." 41 The statement urged the United Nations body to outlaw legal and political discrimination such as prevailed in South Africa; investigate and make public its findings on the degree to which fundamental freedoms are observed in countries such as South Africa where the great majority are barred from exercising citizenship rights; and expel from the United 42 Nations states like South Africa that practice racial discrimination. Paul Leroy Robeson (/ˈroʊbsən/ ROHB-sən;[2][3] April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass baritone concert artist and stage and film actor who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political activism. Educated at Rutgers College and Columbia University, he was a star athlete in his youth. He also studied Swahili and phonetics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in 1934.[4] His political activities began with his involvement with unemployed workers and anti-imperialist students whom he met in Britain and continued with support for the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War and his opposition to fascism. In the United States he became active in the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice campaigns. His sympathies for the Soviet Union and for communism, and his criticism of the United States government and its foreign policies, caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. In 1915, Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College, where he was twice named a consensus All-American in football, and was the class valedictorian. Almost 80 years later, he was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He received his LL.B. from Columbia Law School while playing in the National Football League (NFL). At Columbia, he sang and acted in off-campus productions. After graduating, he became a figure in the Harlem Renaissance with performances in The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. Between 1925 and 1961, Robeson recorded and released some 276 distinct songs, many of which were recorded several times. The first of these were the spirituals "Steal Away" backed with "Were You There" in 1925. Robeson's recorded repertoire spanned many styles, including Americana, popular standards, classical music, European folk songs, political songs, poetry and spoken excerpts from plays.[5] Robeson performed in Britain in a touring melodrama, Voodoo, in 1922, and in Emperor Jones in 1925, and scored a major success in the London premiere of Show Boat in 1928, settling in London for several years with his wife Eslanda. While continuing to establish himself as a concert artist, Robeson also starred in a London production of Othello, the first of three productions of the play over the course of his career. He also gained attention in the film production of Show Boat (1936) and other films such as Sanders of the River (1935) and The Proud Valley (1940). During this period, Robeson advocated for the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and became active in the Council on African Affairs (CAA), supporting their efforts to gain colonized African countries independence from European colonial rule. Returning to the United States in 1939, during World War II Robeson supported the American and Allied war efforts. However, his history of supporting civil rights causes and pro-Soviet policies brought scrutiny from the FBI. After the war ended, the CAA was placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations and Robeson was investigated during the age of McCarthyism. Due to his decision not to recant his public advocacy, he was denied a passport by the U.S. State Department, and his income, consequently, plummeted. He moved to Harlem and from 1950 to 1955 published a periodical called Freedom[6] which was critical of United States policies. His right to travel was eventually restored as a result of the 1958 United States Supreme Court decision Kent v. Dulles. In the early 1960s he retired and lived the remaining years of his life privately in Philadelphia. Contents 1 Early life 1.1 1898–1915: Childhood 1.2 1915–1919: Rutgers College 1.3 1919–1923: Columbia Law School and marriage 2 Theatrical success and ideological transformation 2.1 1923–1927: Harlem Renaissance 2.2 1928–1932: Show Boat, Othello, and marriage difficulties 2.3 1933–1937: Ideological awakening 2.4 1937–1939: Spanish Civil War and political activism 3 World War II, the Broadway Othello, political activism, and McCarthyism 3.1 1939–1945: World War II, and the Broadway Othello 3.2 1946–1949: Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations 3.3 1950–1955: Blacklisted 3.4 1956–1957: End of McCarthyism 4 Later years 4.1 1958–1960: Comeback tours 4.1.1 Europe 4.1.2 Australia and New Zealand 4.2 1961–1963: Health breakdown 4.2.1 Moscow breakdown 4.2.2 Repeated deterioration in London 4.2.3 Treatment in East Germany 4.3 1963–1976: Retirement 4.3.1 Invitations to civil rights movement 4.3.2 Final years 4.4 1976: Death, funeral, and public response 5 Legacy and honors 5.1 In popular culture 6 Filmography 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Primary materials 8.2 Biographies 8.3 Secondary materials 8.4 Film biographies and documentaries 9 Further reading 10 External links 10.1 Institutions associated 10.2 Paul Robeson archives Early life 1898–1915: Childhood Robeson's birthplace in Princeton. Paul Leroy Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898, to Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill.[7] His mother, Maria, was a member of the Bustills, a prominent Quaker family of mixed ancestry.[8] His father, William, was of Igbo origin and was born into slavery.[9][10] William escaped from a plantation in his teens[11] and eventually became the minister of Princeton's Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in 1881.[12] Robeson had three brothers: William Drew Jr. (born 1881), Reeve (born c. 1887), and Ben (born c. 1893); and one sister, Marian (born c. 1895).[13] In 1900, a disagreement between William and white financial supporters of Witherspoon arose with apparent racial undertones,[14] which were prevalent in Princeton.[15] William, who had the support of his entirely black congregation, resigned in 1901.[16] The loss of his position forced him to work menial jobs.[17] Three years later when Robeson was six, his mother, who was nearly blind, died in a house fire.[18] Eventually, William became financially incapable of providing a house for himself and his children still living at home, Ben and Paul, so they moved into the attic of a store in Westfield, New Jersey.[19] William found a stable parsonage at the St. Thomas A.M.E. Zion in 1910,[20] where Robeson filled in for his father during sermons when he was called away.[21] In 1912, Robeson attended Somerville High School in Somerville, New Jersey,[22] where he performed in Julius Caesar and Othello, sang in the chorus, and excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track.[23] His athletic dominance elicited racial taunts which he ignored.[24] Prior to his graduation, he won a statewide academic contest for a scholarship to Rutgers and was named class valedictorian.[25] He took a summer job as a waiter in Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, where he befriended Fritz Pollard, later to be the first African-American coach in the National Football League.[26] 1915–1919: Rutgers College Fritz Pollard (left) and Robeson in a photo from the March 1918 issue of The Crisis In late 1915, Robeson became the third African-American student ever enrolled at Rutgers, and the only one at the time.[27] He tried out for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team,[28] and his resolve to make the squad was tested as his teammates engaged in excessive play, during which his nose was broken and his shoulder dislocated.[29] The coach, Foster Sanford, decided he had overcome the provocation and announced that he had made the team.[30] Robeson joined the debating team[31] and sang off-campus for spending money,[32] and on-campus with the Glee Club informally, as membership required attending all-white mixers.[33] He also joined the other collegiate athletic teams.[34] As a sophomore, amidst Rutgers' sesquicentennial celebration, he was benched when a Southern team refused to take the field because the Scarlet Knights had fielded a Negro, Robeson.[35] After a standout junior year of football,[36] he was recognized in The Crisis for his athletic, academic, and singing talents.[37] At this time[38] his father fell grievously ill.[39] Robeson took the sole responsibility in caring for him, shuttling between Rutgers and Somerville.[40] His father, who was the "glory of his boyhood years"[41] soon died, and at Rutgers, Robeson expounded on the incongruity of African Americans fighting to protect America in World War I but, contemporaneously, being without the same opportunities in the United States as whites.[42] Robeson (far left) was Rutgers University Class of 1919 and one of four students selected into Cap and Skull He finished university with four annual oratorical triumphs[43] and varsity letters in multiple sports.[44] His play at end[45] won him first-team All-American selection, in both his junior and senior years. Walter Camp considered him the greatest end ever.[46] Academically, he was accepted into Phi Beta Kappa[47] and Cap and Skull.[48] His classmates recognized him[49] by electing him class valedictorian.[50] The Daily Targum published a poem featuring his achievements.[51] In his valedictory speech, he exhorted his classmates to work for equality for all Americans.[52] 1919–1923: Columbia Law School and marriage Robeson entered New York University School of Law in fall 1919.[53] To support himself, he became an assistant football coach at Lincoln,[54] where he joined the Alpha Phi Alpha.[55] However, Robeson felt uncomfortable at NYU[56] and moved to Harlem and transferred to Columbia Law School in February 1920.[57] Already known in the black community for his singing,[58] he was selected to perform at the dedication of the Harlem YWCA.[59] Robeson began dating Eslanda "Essie" Goode[60] and after her coaxing,[61] he gave his theatrical debut as Simon in Ridgely Torrence's Simon of Cyrene.[62] After a year of courtship, they were married in August 1921.[63] Robeson was recruited by Pollard to play for the NFL's Akron Pros while he continued his law studies.[64] In the spring, Robeson postponed school[65] to portray Jim in Mary Hoyt Wiborg's play Taboo.[66] He then sang in a chorus in an Off-Broadway production of Shuffle Along[67] before he joined Taboo in Britain.[68] The play was adapted by Mrs. Patrick Campbell to highlight his singing.[69] After the play ended, he befriended Lawrence Brown,[70] a classically trained musician,[71] before returning to Columbia while playing for the NFL's Milwaukee Badgers.[72] He ended his football career after 1922,[73] and months later, he graduated from law school.[74] Theatrical success and ideological transformation 1923–1927: Harlem Renaissance Robeson worked briefly as a lawyer, but he renounced a career in law due to widespread racism.[75] Essie financially supported them and they frequented the social functions at the future Schomburg Center.[76] In December 1924 he landed the lead role of Jim in Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings,[77] which culminated with Jim metaphorically consummating his marriage with his white wife by symbolically emasculating himself. Chillun's opening was postponed due to nationwide controversy over its plot.[78] Chillun's delay led to a revival of The Emperor Jones with Robeson as Brutus, a role pioneered by Charles Sidney Gilpin.[79] The role terrified and galvanized Robeson, as it was practically a 90-minute soliloquy.[80] Reviews declared him an unequivocal success.[81] Though arguably clouded by its controversial subject, his Jim in Chillun was less well received.[82] He deflected criticism of its plot by writing that fate had drawn him to the "untrodden path" of drama and the true measure of a culture is in its artistic contributions, and the only true American culture was African-American.[83] The success of his acting placed him in elite social circles[84] and his ascension to fame, which was forcefully aided by Essie,[85] had occurred at a startling pace.[86] Essie's ambition for Robeson was a startling dichotomy to his indifference.[87] She quit her job, became his agent, and negotiated his first movie role in a silent race film directed by Oscar Micheaux, Body and Soul (1925).[88] To support a charity for single mothers, he headlined a concert singing spirituals.[89] He performed his repertoire of spirituals on the radio.[90] Lawrence Brown, who had become renowned while touring as a pianist with gospel singer Roland Hayes, stumbled upon Robeson in Harlem.[91] The two ad-libbed a set of spirituals, with Robeson as lead and Brown as accompanist. This so enthralled them that they booked Provincetown Playhouse for a concert.[92] The pair's rendition of African-American folk songs and spirituals was captivating,[93] and Victor Records signed Robeson to a contract.[94] The Robesons went to London for a revival of The Emperor Jones, before spending the rest of the fall on holiday on the French Riviera, socializing with Gertrude Stein and Claude McKay.[95] Robeson and Brown performed a series of concert tours in America from January 1926 until May 1927.[96] During a hiatus in New York, Robeson learned that Essie was several months pregnant.[97] Paul Robeson Jr. was born in November 1927 in New York, while Robeson and Brown toured Europe.[98] Essie experienced complications from the birth,[99] and by mid-December, her health had deteriorated dramatically. Ignoring Essie's objections, her mother wired Robeson and he immediately returned to her bedside.[100] Essie completely recovered after a few months.[citation needed] 1928–1932: Show Boat, Othello, and marriage difficulties In 1928, Robeson played "Joe" in the London production of the American musical Show Boat, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[101] His rendition of "Ol' Man River" became the benchmark for all future performers of the song.[102] Some black critics were not pleased with the play due to its usage of the word "nigger".[103] It was, nonetheless, immensely popular with white audiences.[104] He was summoned for a Royal Command Performance at Buckingham Palace[105] and Robeson was befriended by MPs from the House of Commons.[106] Show Boat continued for 350 performances and, as of 2001, it remained the Royal's most profitable venture.[102] The Robesons bought a home in Hampstead.[107] He reflected on his life in his diary and wrote that it was all part of a "higher plan" and "God watches over me and guides me. He's with me and lets me fight my own battles and hopes I'll win."[108] However, an incident at the Savoy Grill, in which he was refused seating, sparked him to issue a press release describing the insult which subsequently became a matter of public debate.[109] Essie had learned early in their marriage that Robeson had been involved in extramarital affairs, but she tolerated them.[110] However, when she discovered that he was having another affair, she unfavorably altered the characterization of him in his biography,[111] and defamed him by describing him with "negative racial stereotypes".[112] Despite her uncovering of this tryst, there was no public evidence that their relationship had soured.[113] The couple appeared in the experimental Swiss film Borderline (1930).[114] He then returned to the Savoy Theatre, in London's West End to play Othello, opposite Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona.[115] Robeson was the first black actor to play Othello in Britain since Ira Aldridge.[116] The production received mixed reviews which noted Robeson's "highly civilized quality [but lacking the] grand style."[117] Robeson stated the best way to diminish the oppression African Americans faced was for his artistic work to be an example of what "men of my colour" could accomplish rather than to "be a propagandist and make speeches and write articles about what they call the Colour Question."[118] After Essie discovered Robeson had been having an affair with Ashcroft, she decided to seek a divorce and they split up.[119] Robeson returned to Broadway as Joe in the 1932 revival of Show Boat, to critical and popular acclaim.[120] Subsequently, he received, with immense pride, an honorary master's degree from Rutgers.[121] Thereabout, his former football coach, Foster Sanford, advised him that divorcing Essie and marrying Ashcroft would do irreparable damage to his reputation.[122] Ashcroft and Robeson's relationship ended in 1932,[123] following which Robeson and Essie reconciled, although their relationship was scarred permanently.[124] 1933–1937: Ideological awakening In 1933, Robeson played the role of Jim in the London production of Chillun, virtually gratis,[125] then returned to the United States to star as Brutus in the film The Emperor Jones—the first film to feature an African American in a starring role, "a feat not repeated for more than two decades in the U.S."[126][127] His acting in The Emperor Jones was well received.[127] On the film set he rejected any slight to his dignity, despite the widespread Jim Crow atmosphere in the United States.[128] Upon returning to England he publicly criticized African Americans' rejection of their own culture.[129] Despite negative reactions from the press, such as a New York Amsterdam News retort that Robeson had made a "jolly well [ass of himself]",[130] he also announced that he would reject any offers to perform central European (though not Russian, which he considered "Asiatic") opera because the music had no connection to his heritage.[131] In early 1934 Robeson enrolled in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), a constituent college of the University of London, where he studied phonetics and Swahili.[132] His "sudden interest" in African history and its influence on culture[133] coincided with his essay "I Want to be African", wherein he wrote of his desire to embrace his ancestry.[134] Robeson and actress Irén Ágay on the set of Sanders of the River, London, 1934 His friends in the anti-imperialism movement and association with British socialists led him to visit the Soviet Union.[134] Robeson, Essie, and Marie Seton traveled to the Soviet Union on an invitation from Sergei Eisenstein in December 1934.[135] A stopover in Berlin enlightened Robeson to the racism in Nazi Germany[136] and, on his arrival in Moscow, in the Soviet Union, Robeson said, "Here I am not a Negro but a human being for the first time in my life ... I walk in full human dignity."[137] Waldemar ("Wally") Hille, who subsequently went on to do arrangements on the People's Songs Bulletin, got his start as an early touring pianist for Robeson. He undertook the role of Bosambo in the movie Sanders of the River (1935),[138] which he felt would render a realistic view of colonial African culture. Sanders of the River made Robeson an international movie star;[139] but the stereotypical portrayal of a colonial African[140] was seen as embarrassing to his stature as an artist[141] and damaging to his reputation.[142] The Commissioner of Nigeria to London protested the film as slanderous to his country,[143] and Robeson thereafter became more politically conscious of his roles.[144] He appeared in the play Stevedore at the Embassy Theatre in London in May 1935,[145] which was favorably reviewed in The Crisis by Nancy Cunard, who concluded: "Stevedore is extremely valuable in the racial–social question—it is straight from the shoulder".[146] In early 1936, he decided to send his son to school in the Soviet Union to shield him from racist attitudes.[147] He then played the role of Toussaint L'Ouverture in the eponymous play by C.L.R. James[148] at the Westminster Theatre, and appeared in the films Song of Freedom,[149] Show Boat (both 1936),[150] My Song Goes Forth,[151] King Solomon's Mines.[152] and was the narrator of the documentary Big Fella (all 1937).[153] In 1938, he was named by American Motion Picture Herald as the 10th most popular star in British cinema.[154] 1937–1939: Spanish Civil War and political activism Robeson believed that the struggle against fascism during the Spanish Civil War was a turning point in his life and transformed him into a political activist.[155] In 1937, he used his concert performances to advocate the Republican cause and the war's refugees.[156] He permanently modified his renditions of "Ol' Man River" – initially, by singing the word "darkies" instead of "niggers"; later, by changing some of the stereotypical dialect in the lyrics to standard English and replacing the fatalistic last verse ("Ah gits weary/ An' sick of tryin'/ Ah'm tired of livin'/ An skeered of dyin'") with an uplifting verse of his own ("But I keep laffin'/ Instead of cryin'/ I must keep fightin'/ Until I'm dyin'") – transforming it from a tragic "song of resignation with a hint of protest implied" into a battle hymn of unwavering defiance.[157] His business agent expressed concern about his political involvement,[158] but Robeson overruled him and decided that contemporary events trumped commercialism.[159] In Wales,[160] he commemorated the Welsh people killed while fighting for the Republicans,[161] where he recorded a message that became his epitaph: "The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative."[162] After an invitation from J. B. S. Haldane,[163] he traveled to Spain in 1938 because he believed in the International Brigades's cause,[164] visited the hospital of the Benicàssim, singing to the wounded soldiers.[165] Robeson also visited the battlefront[166] and provided a morale boost to the Republicans at a time when their victory was unlikely.[164] Back in England, he hosted Jawaharlal Nehru to support Indian independence, whereat Nehru expounded on imperialism's affiliation with Fascism.[167] Robeson reevaluated the direction of his career and decided to focus on the ordeals of "common people".[168] He appeared in the pro-labor play Plant in the Sun, in which he played an Irishman, his first "white" role.[clarification needed][169] With Max Yergan, and the CAA, Robeson became an advocate in the aspirations of African nationalists for political independence.[170] World War II, the Broadway Othello, political activism, and McCarthyism 1939–1945: World War II, and the Broadway Othello Robeson leading Moore Shipyard (Oakland, California) workers in singing the "Star Spangled Banner", September 1942. Robeson, had been a shipyard worker[citation needed] in World War I. Paul Robeson with Uta Hagen in the Theatre Guild production of Othello (1943–44) Paul Robeson was living in Britain at the start of the Second World War. He was included in the Sonderfahndungsliste G.B as a target for arrest in the event Germany occupied Britain. Robeson's last British film was The Proud Valley (1940), set in a Welsh coal-mining town.[171] Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Robeson and his family returned to the United States in 1940, to Enfield, Connecticut, and he became America's "no.1 entertainer"[172] with a radio broadcast of Ballad for Americans.[173] Nevertheless, during a tour in 1940, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was the only major Los Angeles hotel willing to accommodate him due to his race, at an exorbitant rate and registered under an assumed name, and he therefore dedicated two hours every afternoon to sitting in the lobby, where he was widely recognised, "to ensure that the next time Black[s] come through, they'll have a place to stay." Los Angeles hotels lifted their restrictions on black guests soon afterwards.[174][175] Furthermore, the documentary Native Land (1942), which Robeson narrated, was labeled by the FBI as communist propaganda.[176] After an appearance in Tales of Manhattan (1942), a production that he felt was "very offensive to my people", he announced that he would no longer act in films because of the demeaning roles available to blacks.[177] Robeson participated in benefit concerts on behalf of the war effort and at a concert at the Polo Grounds, he met two emissaries from the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, Solomon Mikhoels and Itzik Feffer[178] Subsequently, Robeson reprised his role of Othello at the Shubert Theatre in 1943,[179] and became the first African American to play the role with a white supporting cast on Broadway. During the same period of time, he addressed a meeting with Kenesaw Mountain Landis in a failed attempt to convince him to admit black players to Major League Baseball.[180] He toured North America with Othello until 1945,[181] and subsequently, his political efforts with the CAA to get colonial powers to discontinue their exploitation of Africa were short-circuited by the United Nations.[182] During this period, Robeson also developed a sympathy for Republic of China's side in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1940, the Chinese progressive activist, Liu Liangmo taught Robeson the patriotic song "Chee Lai!" ("Arise!"), known as the March of the Volunteers.[183] Robeson premiered the song at a concert in New York City's Lewisohn Stadium[183] and recorded it in both English and Chinese for Keynote Records in early 1941.[184][185] Robeson gave further performances at benefit concerts for the China Aid Council and United China Relief at Washington's Uline Arena on April 24, 1941.[186] The Washington Committee for Aid to China's booking of Constitution Hall had been blocked by the Daughters of the American Revolution owing to Robeson's race. The indignation was so great that Eleanor Roosevelt and Hu Shih, the Chinese ambassador, became sponsors. However, when the organizers offered tickets on generous terms to the National Negro Congress to help fill the larger venue, both sponsors withdrew, objecting to the NNC's Communist ties.[187] The song became newly founded People's Republic of China's National Anthem after 1949. Its Chinese lyricist died in a Beijing prison in 1968, but Robeson continued to send royalties to his family.[185] 1946–1949: Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations After the mass lynching of four African Americans on July 25, 1946, Robeson met with President Truman and admonished Truman by stating that if he did not enact legislation to end lynching,[188] "the Negroes will defend themselves".[188][189] Truman immediately terminated the meeting and declared that the time was not right to propose anti-lynching legislation.[188] Subsequently, Robeson publicly called upon all Americans to demand that Congress pass civil rights legislation.[190] Taking a stance against lynching, Robeson founded the American Crusade Against Lynching organization in 1946. This organization was thought to be a threat to the NAACP antiviolence movement. Robeson received support from W. E. B. Du Bois regarding this matter and officially launched this organization on the anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, September 23.[191] About this time, Robeson's belief that trade unionism was crucial to civil rights became a mainstay of his political beliefs as he became a proponent of the union activist Revels Cayton.[192] Robeson was later called before the Tenney Committee where he responded to questions about his affiliation with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) by testifying that he was not a member of the CPUSA.[193] Nevertheless, two organizations with which Robeson was intimately involved, the Civil Rights Congress (CRC)[194] and the CAA,[195] were placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO).[196] Subsequently, he was summoned before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and when questioned about his affiliation with the Communist Party, he refused to answer, stating: "Some of the most brilliant and distinguished Americans are about to go to jail for the failure to answer that question, and I am going to join them, if necessary."[197][198] In 1948, Robeson was preeminent in Henry A. Wallace's bid for the President of the United States,[199] during which Robeson traveled to the Deep South, at risk to his own life, to campaign for him.[200] In the ensuing year, Robeson was forced to go overseas to work because his concert performances were canceled at the FBI's behest.[201] While on tour, he spoke at the World Peace Council,[202] at which his speech was publicly reported as equating America with a Fascist state[203]—a depiction that he flatly denied.[204] Nevertheless, the speech publicly attributed to him was a catalyst for his becoming an enemy of mainstream America.[205] Robeson refused to bow to public criticism when he advocated in favor of twelve defendants, including his long-time friend, Benjamin J. Davis Jr., charged during the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders.[206] Label of a record by Paul Robeson published by Soviet Ministry of Culture Robeson traveled to Moscow in June, and tried to find Itzik Feffer. He let Soviet authorities know that he wanted to see him.[207] Reluctant to lose Robeson as a propagandist for the Soviet Union,[208] the Soviets brought Feffer from prison to him. Feffer told him that Mikhoels had been murdered, and he would be summarily executed.[209] To protect the Soviet Union's reputation,[210] and to keep the right wing of the United States from gaining the moral high ground, Robeson denied that any persecution existed in the Soviet Union,[211] and kept the meeting secret for the rest of his life, except from his son.[210] On June 20, 1949, Robeson spoke at the Paris Peace Congress saying that "We in America do not forget that it was on the backs of the white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of Blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong. We shall not make war on anyone. We shall not make war on the Soviet Union. We oppose those who wish to build up imperialist Germany and to establish fascism in Greece. We wish peace with Franco's Spain despite her fascism. We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the people's Republics." He was blacklisted for saying this in the mainstream press within the United States, including in many periodicals of the Negro press such as The Crisis.[212] In order to isolate Robeson politically,[213] the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) subpoenaed Jackie Robinson[214] to comment on Robeson's Paris speech.[214] Robinson testified that Robeson's statements, "'if accurately reported', were silly'".[213] Days later, the announcement of a concert headlined by Robeson in New York City provoked the local press to decry the use of their community to support "subversives"[215] and the Peekskill Riots ensued.[216] Later that year, Edward R. Murrow had CBS News colleague Don Hollenbeck contribute to the innovative media-review program CBS Views the Press over the radio network's flagship station WCBS. Hollenbeck discussed Edward U. Condon, Alger Hiss, and Paul Robeson.[217] Regarding Robeson and the Peekskill riots of 27 August 1949, Hollenbeck said that, while most newspapers had covered the riots well, the New York World-Telegram had drawn from sources that disliked Robeson, including The Compass (successor to PM, Hollenbeck's former employer).[217] 1950–1955: Blacklisted A book reviewed in early 1950 as "the most complete record on college football"[218] failed to list Robeson as ever having played on the Rutgers team[219] and as ever having been an All-American.[220] Months later, NBC canceled Robeson's appearance on Eleanor Roosevelt's television program.[221] Subsequently, the State Department denied Robeson a passport and issued a "stop notice" at all ports because it believed that an isolated existence inside United States borders not only afforded him less freedom of expression[222] but also avenge his "extreme advocacy on behalf of the independence of the colonial peoples of Africa."[223] However, when Robeson met with State Department officials and asked why he was denied a passport, he was told that "his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries".[224] In 1950, Robeson co-founded, with W. E. B. Du Bois, a monthly newspaper, Freedom, showcasing his views and those of his circle. Most issues had a column by Robeson, on the front page. In the final issue, July–August 1955, an unsigned column on the front page of the newspaper described the struggle for the restoration of his passport. It called for support from the leading African-American organizations, and asserted that "Negroes, [and] all Americans who have breathed a sigh of relief at the easing of international tensions... have a stake in the Paul Robeson passport case." An article by Robeson appeared on the second page continuing the passport issue under the headline: "If Enough People Write Washington I'll Get My Passport in a Hurry."[225] In 1951, an article titled "Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd" was published in The Crisis[226] although Paul Jr. suspected it was written by Amsterdam News columnist Earl Brown.[227] J. Edgar Hoover and the United States State Department arranged for the article to be printed and distributed in Africa[228] in order to defame Robeson's reputation and reduce his and Communists' popularity in colonial countries.[229] Another article by Roy Wilkins (now thought to have been the real author of "Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd") denounced Robeson as well as the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in terms consistent with the anti-Communist FBI propaganda.[230] On December 17, 1951, Robeson presented to the United Nations an anti-lynching petition titled "We Charge Genocide".[231] The document asserted that the United States federal government, by its failure to act against lynching in the United States, was "guilty of genocide" under Article II of the UN Genocide Convention. In 1952, Robeson was awarded the International Stalin Prize by the Soviet Union.[232] Unable to travel to Moscow, he accepted the award in New York.[233] In April 1953, shortly after Stalin's death, Robeson penned To You My Beloved Comrade, praising Stalin as dedicated to peace and a guide to the world: "Through his deep humanity, by his wise understanding, he leaves us a rich and monumental heritage."[234] Robeson's opinions about the Soviet Union kept his passport out of reach and stopped his return to the entertainment industry and the civil rights movement.[235] In his opinion, the Soviet Union was the guarantor of political balance in the world.[236] In a symbolic act of defiance against the travel ban, in May 1952, labor unions in the United States and Canada organized a concert at the International Peace Arch on the border between Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia.[237] Robeson returned to perform a second concert at the Peace Arch in 1953,[238] and over the next two years, two further concerts took place. In this period, with the encouragement of his friend the Welsh politician Aneurin Bevan, Robeson recorded a number of radio concerts for supporters in Wales. 1956–1957: End of McCarthyism Main article: Paul Robeson Congressional hearings In 1956, Robeson was called before HUAC after he refused to sign an affidavit affirming that he was not a Communist. In his testimony, he invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to reveal his political affiliations. When asked why he had not remained in the Soviet Union because of his affinity with its political ideology, he replied, "because my father was a slave and my people died to build [the United States and], I am going to stay here, and have a part of it just like you and no fascist-minded people will drive me from it!"[239] At that hearing, Robeson stated "Whether I am or not a Communist is irrelevant. The question is whether American citizens, regardless of their political beliefs or sympathies, may enjoy their constitutional rights."[240] In 1957, still unable to accept invitations to perform abroad, Paul Robeson sang for audiences in London, where 1,000 concert tickets for his telephone concert at St Pancras Town Hall sold out within an hour,[241] and Wales, via the transatlantic telephone cable TAT-1:[242] "We have to learn the hard way that there is another way to sing".[243] An appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States to reinstate his confiscated passport had been rejected, but over the telephone Robeson was able to sing to the 5,000 gathered there as he had earlier in the year to London. Due to the reaction to the promulgation of Robeson's political views, his recordings and films were removed from public distribution, and he was universally condemned in the U.S press.[244] During the height of the Cold War, it became increasingly difficult in the United States to hear Robeson sing on commercial radio, buy his music or see his films.[245] In 1956, in the United Kingdom, Topic Records, at that time part of the Workers Music Association, released a single of Robeson singing "Joe Hill", written by Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson, backed with "John Brown's Body". Joe Hill (1879–1915) was a labor activist in the early 20th century, and "Joe Hill" sung by Robeson is the third favorite choice of British Labour Party politicians on the BBC radio program Desert Island Discs.[246] Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalinism at the 1956 Party Congress silenced Robeson on Stalin, although Robeson continued to praise the Soviet Union.[247] In 1956, after public pressure brought a one-time exemption to the travel ban, Robeson performed two concerts in Canada in February, one in Toronto and the other at a union convention in Sudbury, Ontario.[248] That year Robeson, along with close friend W.E.B. Du Bois, compared the anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary to the "same sort of people who overthrew the Spanish Republican Government" and supported the Soviet invasion and suppression of the revolt.[249] Later years 1958–1960: Comeback tours 1958 saw the publication of Robeson's "manifesto-autobiography" Here I Stand.[250] His passport was restored in June 1958 via Kent v. Dulles.[251] Europe He embarked on a world tour using London as his base.[252] In Moscow in August 1959, he received a tumultuous reception at the Luzhniki Stadium where he sang classic Russian songs along with American standards.[253] Robeson and Essie then flew to Yalta to rest and spend time with Nikita Khrushchev.[254] On October 11, 1959, Robeson took part in a service at St. Paul's Cathedral, the first black performer to sing there.[255] On a trip to Moscow, Robeson experienced bouts of dizziness and heart problems and was hospitalized for two months while Essie was diagnosed with operable cancer.[256] He recovered and returned to the UK to visit the National Eisteddfod. Meanwhile, the State Department had circulated negative literature about him throughout the media in India.[257] While leading The Royal Shakespeare Company starring as Othello in Tony Richardson's 1959 production at Stratford-upon-Avon, he befriended actor Andrew Faulds, whose family hosted him in the nearby village of Shottery. In 1960, in what was his final concert performance in Great Britain, Robeson sang to raise money for the Movement for Colonial Freedom at the Royal Festival Hall.[258] Australia and New Zealand In October 1960, Robeson embarked on a two-month concert tour of Australia and New Zealand with Essie, primarily to generate money,[259] at the behest of Australian politician Bill Morrow.[260] While in Sydney, he became the first major artist to perform at the construction site of the future Sydney Opera House.[261] After appearing at the Brisbane Festival Hall, they went to Auckland where Robeson reaffirmed his support of Marxism-Leninism,[262] denounced the inequality faced by the Māori and efforts to denigrate their culture.[263] Thereabouts, Robeson publicly stated "... the people of the lands of Socialism want peace dearly".[264] During the tour he was introduced to Faith Bandler who interested the Robesons in the plight of the Australian Aborigines.[265] Robeson, consequently, became enraged and demanded the Australian government provide the Aborigines citizenship and equal rights.[266] He attacked the view of the Aborigines as being unsophisticated and uncultured, and declared, "there's no such thing as a backward human being, there is only a society which says they are backward."[267] 1961–1963: Health breakdown Back in London, he decided to return to the United States, where he hoped to resume participation in the civil rights movement, stopping off in Africa and Cuba along the way. Essie argued to stay in London, fearing that he'd be "killed" if he returned and would be "unable to make any money" due to harassment by the United States government. Robeson disagreed and made his own travel arrangements, arriving in Moscow in March 1961.[268] Moscow breakdown During an uncharacteristically wild party in his Moscow hotel room, Robeson locked himself in his bedroom and attempted suicide by cutting his wrists.[269] Three days later, under Soviet medical care, he told his son that he felt extreme paranoia, thought that the walls of the room were moving and, overcome by a powerful sense of emptiness and depression, tried to take his own life.[270] Paul Jr. believed that his father's health problems stemmed from attempts by the CIA and MI5 to "neutralize" his father.[271][272] He remembered that his father had had such fears prior to his prostate operation.[273] He said that three doctors treating Robeson in London and New York had been CIA contractors,[271] and that his father's symptoms resulted from being "subjected to mind de-patterning under MK-ULTRA", a secret CIA programme.[274] Martin Duberman wrote that Robeson's health breakdown was probably brought on by a combination of factors including extreme emotional and physical stress, bipolar depression, exhaustion and the beginning of circulatory and heart problems. "[E]ven without an organic predisposition and accumulated pressures of government harassment he might have been susceptible to a breakdown."[269] Repeated deterioration in London Robeson stayed at the Barvikha Sanatorium until September 1961, when he left for London. There his depression reemerged, and after another period of recuperation in Moscow, he returned to London. Three days after arriving back, he became suicidal and suffered a panic attack while passing the Soviet Embassy.[275] He was admitted to the Priory Hospital, where he underwent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and was given heavy doses of drugs for nearly two years, with no accompanying psychotherapy.[276] During his treatment at the Priory, Robeson was being monitored by the British MI5.[277] Both intelligence services were well aware of Robeson's suicidal state of mind: An FBI memo described Robeson's debilitated condition, remarking that his "death would be much publicized" and would be used for Communist propaganda, necessitating continued surveillance.[278] Numerous memos advised that Robeson should be denied a passport renewal, an obstacle that was likely to further jeopardize his recovery process.[279] Treatment in East Germany In August 1963, disturbed about his treatment, friends and family had Robeson transferred to the Buch Clinic in East Berlin.[280][281] Given psychotherapy and less medication, his physicians found him still "completely without initiative" and they expressed "doubt and anger" about the "high level of barbiturates and ECT" that had been administered in London. He rapidly improved, though his doctor stressed that "what little is left of Paul's health must be quietly conserved."[282] 1963–1976: Retirement The Paul Robeson House in Philadelphia (2009) In 1963, Robeson returned to the United States and for the remainder of his life lived in seclusion.[283] He momentarily assumed a role in the civil rights movement,[271] making a few major public appearances before falling seriously ill during a tour. Double pneumonia and a kidney blockage in 1965 nearly killed him.[283] Invitations to civil rights movement Robeson was contacted by both Bayard Rustin and James Farmer about the possibility of becoming involved with the mainstream of the Civil Rights Movement.[284] Because of Rustin's past anti-Communist stances, Robeson declined to meet with him. Robeson eventually met with Farmer, but because he was asked to denounce Communism and the Soviet Union in order to assume a place in the mainstream, Robeson adamantly declined.[285] Final years After Essie, who had been his spokesperson to the media, died in December 1965,[286] Robeson moved in with his son's family in New York City.[287][281] He was rarely seen strolling near his Harlem apartment on Jumel Place, and his son responded to press inquiries that his "father's health does not permit him to perform, or answer questions."[281] In 1968, he settled at his sister's home in Philadelphia.[288][281] Numerous celebrations were held in honor of Robeson over the next several years, including at public arenas that had previously shunned him, but he saw few visitors aside from close friends and gave few statements apart from messages to support current civil rights and international movements, feeling that his record "spoke for itself".[289] At a Carnegie Hall tribute to mark his 75th birthday in 1973, he was unable to attend, but a taped message from him was played that said: "Though I have not been able to be active for several years, I want you to know that I am the same Paul, dedicated as ever to the worldwide cause of humanity for freedom, peace and brotherhood."[290] 1976: Death, funeral, and public response On January 23, 1976, following complications of a stroke, Robeson died in Philadelphia at the age of 77.[291] He lay in state in Harlem[292] and his funeral was held at his brother Ben's former parsonage, Mother Zion AME Zion Church,[293] where Bishop J. Clinton Hoggard performed the eulogy.[294] His 12 pall bearers included Harry Belafonte[295] and Fritz Pollard.[296] He was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.[295] Biographer Martin Duberman, said of reflections to Robeson's life, at the time of his death: the "white [American] press ... ignored the continuing inability of white America to tolerate a black maverick who refused to bend, ... downplayed the racist component central to his persecution" [during his life, as they] "gingerly" [paid him] "respect and tipped their hat to him as a ‘great American’," while the black American press, "which had never, overall, been as hostile to Robeson" [as the white American press had,] opined that his life " ‘... would always be a challenge to white and Black America.’"[293] Legacy and honors The Robeson holdings in the archive of the Academy of the Arts of the German Democratic Republic, 1981 Early in his life, Robeson was one of the most influential participants in the Harlem Renaissance.[297] His achievements in sport and culture were all the more incredible given the barriers of racism he had to surmount.[298] Robeson brought Negro spirituals into the American mainstream.[299] His theatrical performances have been recognized as the first to display dignity for black actors and pride in African heritage,[300] and he was among the first artists to refuse to play live to segregated audiences. After McCarthyism, [Robeson's stand] on anti-colonialism in the 1940s would never again have a voice in American politics, but the [African independence movements] of the late 1950s and 1960s would vindicate his anti-colonial [agenda].[301] Subsequently, in 1945 he received the Spingarn medal from the NAACP.[302] Several public and private establishments he was associated with have been landmarked,[303] or named after him.[304] His efforts to end Apartheid in South Africa were posthumously rewarded in 1978 by the United Nations General Assembly.[305] Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist won an Academy Award for best short documentary in 1980.[306] In 1995, he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.[307] In the centenary of his birth, which was commemorated around the world,[308] he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award,[309] as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[310] Robeson is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.[311] As of 2011, the run of Othello starring Robeson was the longest-running production of a Shakespeare play ever staged on Broadway.[312] He received a Donaldson Award for his performance.[313] His Othello was characterised by Michael A. Morrison in 2011 as a high point in Shakespearean theatre in the 20th century.[314] Robeson left Australia as a respected, albeit controversial, figure and his support for Aboriginal rights had a profound effect in Australia over the next decade.[315] Robeson archives exist at the Academy of Arts;[316] Howard University,[317] and the Schomburg Center.[318] In 2010, Susan Robeson launched a project by Swansea University and the Welsh Assembly to create an online learning resource in her grandfather's memory.[319] Robeson connected his own life and history not only to his fellow Americans and to his people in the South, but to all the people of Africa and its diaspora whose lives had been fundamentally shaped by the same processes that had brought his ancestors to America.[320] While a consensus definition of his legacy remains controversial,[321] to deny his courage in the face of public and governmental pressure would be to defame his courage.[322] In 1976, the apartment building on Edgecombe Avenue in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan where Robeson lived during the early 1940s was officially renamed the Paul Robeson Residence, and declared a National Historic Landmark.[323][324][325] In 1993, the building was designated a New York City landmark as well.[326] Edgecombe Avenue itself was later co-named Paul Robeson Boulevard. In 1978, TASS announced that the Latvian Shipping Company had named one of its new 40,000-ton tankers Paul Robeson in honor of the singer. TASS said the ship's crew established a Robeson museum aboard the tanker.[327] After Robeson's death, a street in the Prenzlauer Berg district of East Berlin was renamed Paul-Robeson-Straße, and the street name remains in reunified Berlin. An East German stamp featuring Robeson's face was issued with the text "For Peace Against Racism, Paul Robeson 1898–1976."[328] In 1998, the second SOAS University of London halls of residence was named in his honor. In 2002, a blue plaque was unveiled by English Heritage on the house in Hampstead where Robeson lived in 1929–30.[329] In 2004, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 37-cent stamp honoring Robeson.[330] In 2006, a plaque was unveiled in his honor at SOAS University of London.[331][332] In 2007, the Criterion Collection, a company that specializes in releasing special-edition versions of classic and contemporary films, released a DVD boxed set of Robeson films.[333] In 2009, Robeson was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.[334] The main campus library at Rutgers University-Camden is named after Robeson,[335] as is the campus center at Rutgers University-Newark.[336] The Paul Robeson Cultural Center is on the campus of Rutgers University-New Brunswick.[337] In 1972, Penn State established a formal cultural center on the University Park campus. Students and staff chose to name the center for Robeson.[338] A street in Princeton, New Jersey is named after him. In addition, the block of Davenport Street in Somerville, New Jersey, where St. Thomas AME Zion Church still stands is called Paul Robeson Boulevard.[339] In West Philadelphia, the Paul Robeson High School, which won 2019 U.S. News & World Report for Best High Schools in Pennsylvania,[340] is also named after him. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Robeson's graduation, Rutgers University named an open-air plaza after him on Friday, April 12, 2019. The plaza, next to the Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus at Rutgers–New Brunswick, features eight black granite panels with details of Robeson's life.[341] Also in 2019, Commercial Avenue in New Brunswick was renamed Paul Robeson Boulevard.[342] On March 6, 2019, the city council of New Brunswick, New Jersey approved the renaming of Commercial Avenue to Paul Robeson Boulevard.[343] In popular culture In 1954, the Kurdish poet Abdulla Goran wrote the poem "Bangêk bo Pol Ropsin" ("A Call for Paul Robeson"). In the same year, another Kurdish poet, Cegerxwîn, also wrote a poem about him, "Heval Pol Robson" ("Comrade Paul Robeson"), which was put to music by singer Şivan Perwer in 1976.[344] Black 47's 1989 album Home of the Brave includes the song "Paul Robeson (Born to Be Free)", which features spoken quotes of Robeson as part of the song.[345] These quotes are drawn from Robeson's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in June 1956. In 2001, Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers released a song titled "Let Robeson Sing" as a tribute to Robeson, which reached number 19 on the UK singles chart. In January 1978, James Earl Jones performed the one-man show Paul Robeson, written by Phillip Hayes Dean, on Broadway.[346][347] This stage drama was made into a TV movie in 1979, starring Jones and directed by Lloyd Richards.[348] At the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, British-Nigerian actor Tayo Aluko, himself a baritone soloist, premiered his one-man show, Call Mr. Robeson: A Life with Songs, which has since toured various countries.[349] Tom Rob Smith's novel Agent 6 (2012) includes the character Jesse Austin, "a black singer, political activist and communist sympathizer modeled after real-life actor/activist Paul Robeson."[350] Robeson also appears in short fiction published in the online literary magazines the Maple Tree Literary Supplement[351] and Every Day Fiction.[352] In November 2014, it was reported that film director Steve McQueen's next film would be a biographical film about Paul Robeson.[353] As of 2021, the film has not been made. McQueen's video work End Credits (2012–ongoing), shown at the Whitney, the Tate Modern, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Pérez Art Museum, reproduces Robeson’s recently declassified, although still heavily redacted, FBI files.[354] On September 7, 2019, Crossroads Theater Company performed Phillip Hayes Dean's play Paul Robeson in the inaugural performance of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.[355] Filmography Main article: Paul Robeson filmography Body and Soul (1925) Camille (1926) Borderline (1930) The Emperor Jones (1933) Sanders of the River (1935) Show Boat (1936) Song of Freedom (1936) Big Fella (1937) My Song Goes Forth (1937) King Solomon's Mines (1937) Jericho/Dark Sands (1937) The Proud Valley (1940) Native Land (1942) Tales of Manhattan (1942) The Song of the Rivers (1954)[356] Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993)[1] was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United States and Europe between 1925 and 1965. Anderson was an important figure in the struggle for African-American artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. In 1939 during the era of racial segregation, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The incident placed Anderson in the spotlight of the international community on a level unusual for a classical musician. With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the Lincoln Memorial steps in the capital. She sang before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. On January 7, 1955, Anderson became the first African-American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. In addition, she worked as a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United States Department of State, giving concerts all over the world. She participated in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, singing at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Anderson was awarded the first Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1977, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991. Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Early career 2.1 Rosenwald Fund 2.2 European tours 2.3 American tours 2.4 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert 3 Mid-career 3.1 Ford 50th Anniversary Show 3.2 The Metropolitan Opera 3.3 Presidential inaugurations and goodwill ambassador tours 4 Later life 5 Personal life 6 Awards and honors 7 Legacy 8 Marian Anderson Award 9 See also 10 References 11 Bibliography 12 Biographical entries 13 Selected discography 14 External links Early life and education Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia on February 27, 1897, to John Berkley Anderson (c. 1872–1910) and Annie Delilah Rucker (1874–1964).[2] Her father sold ice and coal at the Reading Terminal in downtown Philadelphia and eventually also sold liquor. Prior to her marriage, Anderson's mother was briefly a student at the Virginia Seminary and College in Lynchburg and had worked as a schoolteacher in Virginia. As she did not obtain a degree, Annie Anderson was unable to teach in Philadelphia under a law that was applied only to black teachers and not white ones.[3] She therefore earned an income caring for small children. Marian was the eldest of the three Anderson children. Her two sisters, Alyse (1899–1965) and Ethel (1902–90), also became singers. Ethel married James DePreist and their son James Anderson DePreist was a noted conductor.[4] Anderson in 1920 Anderson's parents were both devout Christians and the whole family was active in the Union Baptist Church, which, during her youth, stood in a building constructed by the congregation in 1889 at 709 S. 12th Street in South Philadelphia.[5] Marian's aunt Mary, her father's sister, was particularly active in the church's musical life and convinced her niece to join the junior church choir at the age of six. In that role, she got to perform solos and duets, often with her aunt. Aunt Mary took Marian to concerts at local churches, the YMCA, benefit concerts, and other community music events throughout the city. Anderson credited her aunt's influence as the reason she pursued her singing career.[6] Beginning as young as six, her aunt arranged for Marian to sing for local functions where she was often paid 25 or 50 cents for singing a few songs. As she got into her early teens, Marian began to make as much as four or five dollars for singing, a considerable sum for the early 20th century. At the age of 10, Marian joined the People's Chorus of Philadelphia under the direction of a singer Emma Azalia Hackley, where she was often a soloist.[6][7] When Anderson was 12, her father received a head injury while working at the Reading Terminal before Christmas 1909. Soon afterwards her father died, following heart failure. He was 37 years old. Marian and her family moved into the home of her father's parents, Benjamin and Isabella Anderson. Her grandfather had been born a slave and had been emancipated in the 1860s. He relocated to South Philadelphia, the first of his family to do so. When Anderson moved into his home, the two became very close, but he died just a year after the family moved in.[4][7] Anderson attended Stanton Grammar School, graduating in 1912. Her family could not pay for any music lessons or high school. Still, Anderson continued to perform wherever she could and learn from anyone who was willing to teach her. Throughout her teenage years, she remained active in her church's musical activities, now heavily involved in the adult choir. She became a member of the Baptists' Young People's Union and the Camp Fire Girls, which provided her with some limited musical opportunities.[6] Eventually, the People's Chorus of Philadelphia and the pastor of her church, Reverend Wesley Parks, along with other leaders of the black community, raised the money she needed to get singing lessons with Mary Saunders Patterson and to attend South Philadelphia High School, from which she graduated in 1921.[4][8] After high school, Anderson applied to an all-white music school, the Philadelphia Music Academy (now University of the Arts), but was turned away because she was black. The woman working the admissions counter replied, "We don't take colored" when she tried to apply. Undaunted, Anderson pursued studies privately in her native city through the continued support of the Philadelphia black community, first with Agnes Reifsnyder, then Giuseppe Boghetti. She met Boghetti through the principal of her high school. Anderson auditioned for him by singing "Deep River"; he was immediately brought to tears. Boghetti scheduled a recital of English, Russian, Italian and German music at The Town Hall in New York City in April 1924; it took place in an almost empty hall and received poor reviews.[9] In 1923 she made two recordings, "Deep River" and "My Way's Cloudy" for the Victor company.[10] Early career In 1925, Anderson got her first big break at a singing competition sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. As the winner, she got to perform in concert with the orchestra on August 26, 1925,[11] a performance that scored immediate success with both the audience and music critics. Anderson continued her studies with Frank La Forge in New York. During this time, Arthur Judson became her manager. They met through the New York Philharmonic. Over the next several years, she made a number of concert appearances in the United States, but racial prejudice prevented her career from gaining momentum. Her first performance at Carnegie Hall was in 1928.[12] Rosenwald Fund During her fall 1929 concert schedule, Anderson sang at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. The performance was greeted with measured praise. Critic Herman Devries from the Chicago Evening American wrote, "[Anderson] reached near perfection in every requirement of vocal art—the tone was of superb timbre, the phrasing of utmost refinement, the style pure, discreet, musicianly. But after this there was a letdown, and we took away the impression of a talent still unripe, but certainly a talent of potential growth."[13] In the audience were two representatives from Julius Rosenwald's philanthropic organization, the Rosenwald Fund. The organization's representatives, Ray Field and George Arthur, encouraged Anderson to apply for a Rosenwald Fellowship, from which she received $1500 to study in Berlin.[14] European tours Anderson went to Europe, where she spent a number of months studying with Sara Charles-Cahier, before launching a highly successful European singing tour.[12] In the summer of 1930, she went to Scandinavia, where she met the Finnish pianist Kosti Vehanen, who became her regular accompanist and her vocal coach for many years. She also met Jean Sibelius through Vehanen after he had heard her in a concert in Helsinki. Moved by her performance, Sibelius invited them to his home and asked his wife to bring champagne in place of the traditional coffee. Sibelius complimented Anderson on her performance; he felt that she had been able to penetrate the Nordic soul. The two struck up an immediate friendship, which further blossomed into a professional partnership, and for many years Sibelius altered and composed songs for Anderson. He created a new arrangement of the song "Solitude" and dedicated it to Anderson in 1939. Originally The Jewish Girl's Song from his 1906 incidental music to Belshazzar's Feast, it later became the "Solitude" section of the orchestral suite derived from the incidental music.[15][16] In 1933, Anderson made her European debut in a concert at Wigmore Hall in London, where she was received enthusiastically. In the first years of the 1930s, she toured Europe, where she did not encounter the prejudices she had experienced in America.[17] Anderson, accompanied by Vehanen, continued to tour throughout Europe during the mid-1930s. Before going back to Scandinavia, where fans had "Marian fever", she performed in Russia and the major cities of Eastern Europe.[18] She quickly became a favorite of many conductors and composers of major European orchestras.[19] During a 1935 tour in Salzburg, the conductor Arturo Toscanini told her she had a voice "heard once in a hundred years."[20][21] American tours In 1934, impresario Sol Hurok offered Anderson a better contract than she previously had with Arthur Judson. He became her manager, and he persuaded her to come back and perform in America.[22] In 1935, Anderson made her second recital appearance at The Town Hall, New York City, which received highly favorable reviews from music critics.[23] She spent the next four years touring throughout the United States and Europe. She was offered opera roles by several European houses, but due to her lack of acting experience, Anderson declined all of them. She did, however, record a number of arias in the studio, which became bestsellers.[19] Anderson's accomplishments as a singer did not make her immune to the Jim Crow laws in the 1930s. Although she gave approximately seventy recitals a year in the United States, Anderson was still turned away by some American hotels and restaurants. Because of this discrimination, Albert Einstein, a champion of racial tolerance, hosted Anderson on many occasions, the first being in 1937 when she was denied a hotel room before performing at Princeton University. She last stayed with him months before he died in 1955.[24][25] 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert Anderson in her 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial External audio audio icon Anderson performing Schubert's Ave Maria; "Oh mio Fernando" from Donizetti's La favorite; Spirituals: "The Gospel Train", "My Soul Is Anchored in the Lord", "Tramping", on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) denied permission to Anderson for a concert on April 9 at Constitution Hall under a "white performers-only" policy in effect at the time.[26][27][28] In addition to the policy on performers, Washington, D.C. was a segregated city, and black patrons were upset that they would have to sit at the back of Constitution Hall. Furthermore, Constitution Hall did not have the segregated public bathrooms required by DC law at the time for such events. Other DC venues were not an option; the District of Columbia Board of Education declined a request for the use of the auditorium of a white public high school.[29] The next day, Charles Edward Russell, a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and chair of the DC citywide Inter-Racial Committee, held a meeting of the Marian Anderson Citizens Committee (MACC). This included the National Negro Congress, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the American Federation of Labor, and the Washington Industrial Council-CIO, plus church leaders and activists in the city and numerous other organizations. MACC elected Charles Hamilton Houston as its chairman and on February 20, the group picketed the Board of Education, collected signatures on petitions, and planned a mass protest at the next board meeting.[30] Mitchell Jamieson's 1943 mural An Incident in Contemporary American Life, at the United States Department of the Interior Building, depicts the scene of Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial As a result of the ensuing furor, thousands of DAR members, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned from the organization.[31][1] Roosevelt wrote to the DAR: "I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing Constitution Hall to a great artist ... You had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that your organization has failed."[32] Author Zora Neale Hurston criticized Eleanor Roosevelt's public silence about the similar decision by the District of Columbia Board of Education.[33] As the controversy grew, the American press overwhelmingly supported Anderson's right to sing. The Philadelphia Tribune wrote, "A group of tottering old ladies, who don't know the difference between patriotism and putridism, have compelled the gracious First Lady to apologize for their national rudeness." The Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote, "In these days of racial intolerance so crudely expressed in the Third Reich, an action such as the D.A.R.’s ban ... seems all the more deplorable."[34] Marian Anderson greeting members of the audience at the ceremony held in the auditorium of the U.S. Department of the Interior, 1943 At Eleanor Roosevelt's instigation,[35] President Roosevelt and Walter White, then-executive secretary of the NAACP, and Anderson's manager, Sol Hurok, persuaded Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes to arrange an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.[31] The concert was performed on Easter Sunday, April 9. Anderson was accompanied, as usual, by Vehanen. They began the performance with a dignified and stirring rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." The event attracted a crowd of more than 75,000 in addition to a national radio audience of millions.[36] Two months later, in conjunction with the 30th NAACP conference in Richmond, Virginia, Eleanor Roosevelt gave a speech on national radio (NBC and CBS) and presented Anderson with the 1939 Spingarn Medal for distinguished achievement.[37] In 2001, a documentary film of the event was chosen for the National Film Registry, and NBC radio coverage of the event was selected for the National Recording Registry.[1] Mid-career Anderson at the Department of the Interior in 1943, commemorating her 1939 concert Anderson christens Liberty ship SS Booker T. Washington, 1942 During World War II and the Korean War, Anderson entertained troops in hospitals and at bases. In 1943, she sang at the Constitution Hall, having been invited by the DAR to perform before an integrated audience as part of a benefit for the American Red Cross. She said of the event, "When I finally walked onto the stage of Constitution Hall, I felt no different than I had in other halls. There was no sense of triumph. I felt that it was a beautiful concert hall and I was very happy to sing there." In contrast, the District of Columbia Board of Education continued to bar her from using the high school auditorium in the District of Columbia.[1] Ford 50th Anniversary Show On June 15, 1953, Anderson headlined The Ford 50th Anniversary Show, which was broadcast live from New York City on both NBC and CBS. Midway through the program, she sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." She returned to close the program with her rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The program attracted an audience of 60 million viewers. Forty years after the broadcast, television critic Tom Shales recalled the broadcast as both "a landmark in television" and "a milestone in the cultural life of the '50s".[38] The Metropolitan Opera On January 7, 1955, Anderson became the first African-American to sing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. At the invitation of director Rudolf Bing, she sang the part of Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (opposite Zinka Milanov, then Herva Nelli, as Amelia).[39] Anderson later said about the evening, "The curtain rose on the second scene and I was there on stage, mixing the witch's brew. I trembled, and when the audience applauded and applauded before I could sing a note, I felt myself tightening into a knot." Although she never appeared with the company again, Anderson was named a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera company. The following year, her autobiography, My Lord, What a Morning, was published, and became a bestseller.[1] Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder 1. "Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgehn" (4:40) MENU0:00 2. "Nun seh' ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen" (3:58) MENU0:00 3. "Wenn dein Mütterlein" (4:12) MENU0:00 "4. "Oft denk' ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen" (3:03) MENU0:00 5. "In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus" (6:11) MENU0:00 Anderson with the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Pierre Monteux (1950) Problems playing these files? See media help. Presidential inaugurations and goodwill ambassador tours In 1957, she sang for President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inauguration, and toured India and the Far East as a goodwill ambassador through the U.S. State Department and the American National Theater and Academy. She traveled 35,000 miles (56,000 km) in 12 weeks, giving 24 concerts. After that, President Eisenhower appointed her a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The same year, she was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[40] In 1958, she was officially designated a delegate to the United Nations, a formalization of her role as "goodwill ambassadress" of the U.S.[1] On January 20, 1961, she sang for President John F. Kennedy's inauguration, and in 1962 she performed for President Kennedy and other dignitaries in the East Room of the White House and toured Australia.[41] She was active in supporting the civil rights movement during the 1960s. She performed benefit concerts in aid of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Congress of Racial Equality. In 1963, she sang at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. That same year, she received one of the newly reinstituted Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is awarded for "especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interest of the United States, World Peace or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." She also released an album, Snoopycat: The Adventures of Marian Anderson's Cat Snoopy, which included short stories and songs about her beloved black cat.[42] That same year, Anderson concluded her farewell tour, after which she retired from public performance. The international tour began at Constitution Hall on Saturday October 24, 1964, and ended on April 18, 1965, at Carnegie Hall.[1] In 1965, she christened the nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine USS George Washington Carver.[43] Later life Painting by Betsy Graves Reyneau Although Anderson retired from singing in 1965, she continued to appear publicly. She often narrated Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait, with her nephew James DePriest conducting.[44] In 1976, Copland conducted a performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Saratoga.[45] Her achievements were recognized with many honors, including the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit in 1973;[46] the United Nations Peace Prize, New York City's Handel Medallion, and the Congressional Gold Medal, all in 1977;[47] Kennedy Center Honors in 1978; the George Peabody Medal in 1981; the National Medal of Arts in 1986; and a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1991. A half-ounce gold commemorative medal was embossed with her portrait by the United States Treasury Department in 1980. Four years later, she was the first person to be honored with the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award of the City of New York.[1] She has been awarded 24 honorary doctoral degrees, from Howard University, Temple University, Smith College and many others.[44] Personal life On July 17, 1943, Anderson married architect Orpheus H. "King" Fisher (1900–86) in Bethel, Connecticut. Fisher had asked her to marry him when they were teenagers.[48] The wedding was a private ceremony performed by United Methodist pastor Rev. Jack Grenfell and was the subject of a short story titled "The 'Inside' Story", written by Rev. Grenfell's wife, Dr. Clarine Coffin Grenfell, in her book Women My Husband Married, including Marian Anderson.[20][49][50] According to Dr. Grenfell, the wedding was originally supposed to take place in the parsonage, but because of a bake sale on the lawn of the Bethel United Methodist Church, the ceremony was moved at the last minute to the Elmwood Chapel, on the site of the Elmwood Cemetery in Bethel, in order to keep the event private.[51][52] Anderson entertains a group of overseas veterans and WACs on the stage of the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium, 1945. By this marriage she gained a stepson, James Fisher, from her husband's previous marriage to Ida Gould.[53] In 1940, seeking a retreat away from the public eye, Anderson and Fisher purchased a three-story Victorian farmhouse on a 100-acre (0.40 km2) farm in Danbury, Connecticut,after an exhaustive search throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Through the years, he built many structures on the property, including an acoustic rehearsal studio he designed for his wife. The property remained Anderson's home for almost 50 years.[54] From 1943, she resided at the farm that Orpheus had named Marianna Farm.[55] The farm was on Joe's Hill Road, in the Mill Plain section of western Danbury. She constructed a three-bedroom ranch house as a residence, and she used a separate one-room structure as her studio. In 1996, the farm was named one of 60 sites on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. The studio was moved to downtown Danbury as the Marian Anderson studio.[56][57] As a town resident, Anderson wished to live as normally as possible, declining offers to be treated in restaurants and stores as a celebrity. She was known to visit the Danbury State Fair. She sang at the city hall on the occasion of the lighting of Christmas ornaments. She gave a concert at the Danbury High School. She served on the board of the Danbury Music Center and supported the Charles Ives Center for the Arts and the Danbury Chapter of the NAACP.[56] In 1986, Orpheus Fisher died after 43 years of marriage. Anderson remained in residence at Marianna Farm until 1992, one year before her death. Although the property was sold to developers, various preservationists as well as the City of Danbury fought to protect Anderson's studio. Their efforts proved successful, and the Danbury Museum and Historical Society received a grant from the state of Connecticut, relocated and restored the structure, and opened it to the public in 2004. In addition to seeing the studio, visitors can see photographs and memorabilia from milestones in Anderson's career.[58][59] Marian Anderson gravestone in Eden Cemetery In 1992, Anderson relocated to the home of her nephew, conductor James DePreist, in Portland, Oregon. She died there on April 8, 1993, of congestive heart failure, at age 96.[60] She is interred at Eden Cemetery, in Collingdale, Pennsylvania.[61] Awards and honors External audio audio icon Anderson performing Brahms' Alto Rhapsody with Pierre Monteux conducting the San Francisco Symphony in 1945 1939: NAACP Spingarn Medal[62] 1963: Presidential Medal of Freedom[63] 1973: University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit[64] 1973: National Women's Hall of Fame[65] 1977: United Nations Peace Prize[66] 1977: New York City – Handel Medallion[66] 1977: Congressional Gold Medal[67] 1978: Kennedy Center Honors[68] 1980: United States Treasury Department gold commemorative medal[69] 1984: Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award of the City of New York[70] 1986: National Medal of Arts[71] 1991: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award[72] Honorary doctorate from Howard University, Temple University, Smith College[73] Legacy This eight foot bronze sculpture was erected on November 9, 2006 in front of Twichell Auditorium on the campus of Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Designed by New York-based artist Meredith Bergmann and commissioned by the college; the sculpture is housed permanently on the campus. Sculpture of Anderson, Converse College, South Carolina The life and art of Anderson has been commemorated by writers, artists, and city, state, and national organizations. The following is a selected list: She was an example and an inspiration to both Leontyne Price and Jessye Norman.[1] 1999—A one-act musical play entitled My Lord, What a Morning: The Marian Anderson Story was produced by the Kennedy Center.[74] The musical took its title from Anderson's memoir, published by Viking in 1956.[75] 2001—The 1939 documentary film, Marian Anderson: The Lincoln Memorial Concert was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[1] 2002—Scholar Molefi Kete Asante included Anderson in his book,100 Greatest African Americans.[76] January 27, 2005—a commemorative U.S. postage stamp honored Anderson as part of the Black Heritage series.[77] Anderson is also pictured on the US$5,000 Series I United States Savings Bond.[78] 2011—The Marian Anderson House, in Philadelphia, was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[79] 2016 - The Union Baptist Church (Built 1915-16), 1910 Fitzwater Street, Philadelphia, PA was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, under Criteria A and J, the former being for its association with Marian Anderson, providing regulatory protection to the building from alteration and demolition.[80] April 20, 2016—United States Secretary of the Treasury, Jacob Lew, announced that Anderson will appear along with Eleanor Roosevelt and suffragist on the back of the redesigned US$5 bill scheduled to be unveiled in the year 2020, the 100th anniversary of 19th Amendment of the Constitution which granted women in America the right to vote.[81][82] In February 2021 Anderson's life and the 1939 Constitution Hall controversy and her subsequent concert at the Lincoln Memorial were the subject of a documentary "Voice of Freedom" that aired as an episode of American Experience on PBS.[83] Marian Anderson Award The Marian Anderson Award was originally established in 1943 by Anderson after she was awarded the $10,000 Bok Prize that year by the city of Philadelphia. Anderson used the award money to establish a singing competition to help support young singers. The prize fund was paid out in due course and disbanded in 1976. In 1990, the award was re-established and has dispensed $25,000 annually. In 1998, the Marian Anderson Award prize money was restructured to be given to an established artist, not necessarily a singer, who exhibits leadership in a humanitarian area.[84]
The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was a New Deal agency created in 1937 to combat rural poverty during the Great Depression in the United States. It succeeded the Resettlement Administration (1935–1937).[1] The FSA is famous for its small but highly influential photography program, 1935–44, that portrayed the challenges of rural poverty. The photographs in the FSA/Office of War Information Photograph Collection form an extensive pictorial record of American life between 1935 and 1944. This U.S. government photography project was headed for most of its existence by Roy Stryker, who guided the effort in a succession of government agencies: the Resettlement Administration (1935–1937), the Farm Security Administration (1937–1942), and the Office of War Information (1942–1944). The collection also includes photographs acquired from other governmental and nongovernmental sources, including the News Bureau at the Offices of Emergency Management (OEM), various branches of the military, and industrial corporations.[2] In total, the black-and-white portion of the collection consists of about 175,000 black-and-white film negatives, encompassing both negatives that were printed for FSA-OWI use and those that were not printed at the time. Color transparencies also made by the FSA/OWI are available in a separate section of the catalog: FSA/OWI Color Photographs.[2] The FSA stressed "rural rehabilitation" efforts to improve the lifestyle of very poor landowning farmers, and a program to purchase submarginal land owned by poor farmers and resettle them in group farms on land more suitable for efficient farming. Reactionary critics, including the Farm Bureau, strongly opposed the FSA as an alleged experiment in collectivizing agriculture—that is, in bringing farmers together to work on large government-owned farms using modern techniques under the supervision of experts. After the Conservative coalition took control of Congress, it transformed the FSA into a program to help poor farmers buy land, and that program continues to operate in the 21st century as the Farmers Home Administration. Origins Walker Evans portrait of Allie Mae Burroughs (1936) Arthur Rothstein photograph "Dust Bowl Cimarron County, Oklahoma" of a farmer and two sons during a dust storm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma (1936) Dorothea Lange photograph of an Arkansas squatter of three years near Bakersfield, California (1935) The projects that were combined in 1935 to form the Resettlement Administration (RA) started in 1933 as an assortment of programs tried out by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The RA was headed by Rexford Tugwell, an economic advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[3] However, Tugwell's goal moving 650,000 people into 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km2) of exhausted, worn-out land was unpopular among the majority in Congress.[3] This goal seemed socialistic to some and threatened to deprive powerful farm proprietors of their tenant workforce.[3] The RA was thus left with only enough resources to relocate a few thousand people from 9 million acres (36,000 km2) and build several greenbelt cities,[3] which planners admired as models for a cooperative future that never arrived.[3] The main focus of the RA was to now build relief camps in California for migratory workers, especially refugees from the drought-stricken Dust Bowl of the Southwest.[3] This move was resisted by a large share of Californians, who did not want destitute migrants to settle in their midst.[3] The RA managed to construct 95 camps that gave migrants unaccustomed clean quarters with running water and other amenities,[3] but the 75,000 people who had the benefit of these camps were a small share of those in need and could only stay temporarily.[3] After facing enormous criticism for his poor management of the RA, Tugwell resigned in 1936.[3] On January 1, 1937,[4] with hopes of making the RA more effective, the RA was transferred to the Department of Agriculture through executive order 7530.[4] On July 22, 1937,[5] Congress passed the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act.[5] This law authorized a modest credit program to assist tenant farmers to purchase land,[5] and it was the culmination of a long effort to secure legislation for their benefit.[5] Following the passage of the act, Congress passed the Farm Security Act into law. The Farm Security Act officially transformed the RA into the Farm Security Administration (FSA).[3] The FSA expanded through funds given by the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act.[3] Relief work One of the activities performed by the RA and FSA was the buying out of small farms that were not economically viable, and the setting up of 34 subsistence homestead communities, in which groups of farmers lived together under the guidance of government experts and worked a common area. They were not allowed to purchase their farms for fear that they would fall back into inefficient practices not guided by RA and FSA experts.[6] The Dust Bowl in the Great Plains displaced thousands of tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and laborers, many of whom (known as "Okies" or "Arkies") moved on to California. The FSA operated camps for them, such as Weedpatch Camp as depicted in The Grapes of Wrath. The RA and the FSA gave educational aid to 455,000 farm families during the period 1936-1943. In June, 1936, Roosevelt wrote: "You are right about the farmers who suffer through their own fault... I wish you would have a talk with Tugwell about what he is doing to educate this type of farmer to become self-sustaining. During the past year, his organization has made 104,000 farm families practically self-sustaining by supervision and education along practical lines. That is a pretty good record!"[7] The FSA's primary mission was not to aid farm production or prices. Roosevelt's agricultural policy had, in fact, been to try to decrease agricultural production to increase prices. When production was discouraged, though, the tenant farmers and small holders suffered most by not being able to ship enough to market to pay rents. Many renters wanted money to buy farms, but the Agriculture Department realized there already were too many farmers, and did not have a program for farm purchases. Instead, they used education to help the poor stretch their money further. Congress, however, demanded that the FSA help tenant farmers purchase farms, and purchase loans of $191 million were made, which were eventually repaid. A much larger program was $778 million in loans (at effective rates of about 1% interest) to 950,000 tenant farmers. The goal was to make the farmer more efficient so the loans were used for new machinery, trucks, or animals, or to repay old debts. At all times, the borrower was closely advised by a government agent. Family needs were on the agenda, as the FSA set up a health insurance program and taught farm wives how to cook and raise children. Upward of a third of the amount was never repaid, as the tenants moved to much better opportunities in the cities.[8] The FSA was also one of the authorities administering relief efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico during the Great Depression. Between 1938 and 1945, under the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration, it oversaw the purchase of 590 farms with the intent of distributing land to working and middle-class Puerto Ricans.[9] Modernization The FSA resettlement communities appear in the literature as efforts to ameliorate the wretched condition of southern sharecroppers and tenants, but those evicted to make way for the new settlers are virtually invisible in the historic record. The resettlement projects were part of larger efforts to modernize rural America. The removal of former tenants and their replacement by FSA clients in the lower Mississippi alluvial plain—the Delta—reveals core elements of New Deal modernizing policies. The key concepts that guided the FSA's tenant removals were: the definition of rural poverty as rooted in the problem of tenancy; the belief that economic success entailed particular cultural practices and social forms; and the commitment by those with political power to gain local support. These assumptions undergirded acceptance of racial segregation and the criteria used to select new settlers. Alternatives could only become visible through political or legal action—capacities sharecroppers seldom had. In succeeding decades, though, these modernizing assumptions created conditions for Delta African Americans on resettlement projects to challenge white supremacy.[10] FSA and its contribution to society The documentary photography genre describes photographs that would work as a time capsule for evidence in the future or a certain method that a person can use for a frame of reference. Facts presented in a photograph can speak for themselves after the viewer gets time to analyze it. The motto of the FSA was simply, as Beaumont Newhall insists, "not to inform us, but to move us."[citation needed] Those photographers wanted the government to move and give a hand to the people, as they were completely neglected and overlooked, thus they decided to start taking photographs in a style that we today call "documentary photography." The FSA photography has been influential due to its realist point of view, and because it works as a frame of reference and an educational tool from which later generations could learn. Society has benefited and will benefit from it for more years to come, as this photography can unveil the ambiguous and question the conditions that are taking place.[11] Photography program The RA and FSA are well known for the influence of their photography program, 1935–1944. Photographers and writers were hired to report and document the plight of poor farmers. The Information Division (ID) of the FSA was responsible for providing educational materials and press information to the public. Under Roy Stryker, the ID of the FSA adopted a goal of "introducing America to Americans." Many of the most famous Depression-era photographers were fostered by the FSA project. Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks were three of the most famous FSA alumni.[12] The FSA was also cited in Gordon Parks' autobiographical novel, A Choice of Weapons. The FSA's photography was one of the first large-scale visual documentations of the lives of African-Americans.[13] These images were widely disseminated through the Twelve Million Black Voices collection, published in October 1941, which combined FSA photographs selected by Edwin Rosskam and text by author and poet Richard Wright. Photographers Fifteen photographers (ordered by year of hire) would produce the bulk of work on this project. Their diverse, visual documentation elevated government's mission from the "relocation" tactics of a Resettlement Administration to strategic solutions which would depend on America recognizing rural and already poor Americans, facing death by depression and dust. FSA photographers: Arthur Rothstein (1935), Theodor Jung (1935), Ben Shahn (1935), Walker Evans (1935), Dorothea Lange (1935), Carl Mydans (1935), Russell Lee (1936), Marion Post Wolcott (1936), John Vachon (1936, photo assignments began in 1938), Jack Delano (1940), John Collier (1941), Marjory Collins (1941), Louise Rosskam (1941), Gordon Parks (1942) and Esther Bubley (1942). With America's entry into World War II, FSA would focus on a different kind of relocation as orders were issued for internment of Japanese Americans. FSA photographers would be transferred to the Office of War Information during the last years of the war and completely disbanded at the war's end. Photographers like Howard R. Hollem, Alfred T. Palmer, Arthur Siegel and OWI's Chief of Photographers John Rous were working in OWI before FSA's reorganization there. As a result of both teams coming under one unit name, these other individuals are sometimes associated with RA-FSA's pre-war images of American life. Though collectively credited with thousands of Library of Congress images, military ordered, positive-spin assignments like these four received starting in 1942, should be separately considered from pre-war, depression triggered imagery. FSA photographers were able to take time to study local circumstances and discuss editorial approaches with each other before capturing that first image. Each one talented in her or his own right, equal credit belongs to Roy Stryker who recognized, hired and empowered that talent. John Collier Jr. John Collier Jr.   Jack Delano Jack Delano   Walker Evans Walker Evans   Dorothea Lange Dorothea Lange   Russell Lee Russell Lee   Carl Mydans Carl Mydans   Gordon Parks Gordon Parks   Arthur Rothstein Arthur Rothstein   John Vachon John Vachon   Marion Post Wolcott Marion Post Wolcott These 15 photographers, some shown above, all played a significant role, not only in producing images for this project, but also in molding the resulting images in the final project through conversations held between the group members. The photographers produced images that breathed a humanistic social visual catalyst of the sort found in novels, theatrical productions, and music of the time. Their images are now regarded as a "national treasure" in the United States, which is why this project is regarded as a work of art.[14] Photograph of Chicago's rail yards by Jack Delano, circa 1943 Together with John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (not a government project) and documentary prose (for example Walker Evans and James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men), the FSA photography project is most responsible for creating the image of the Depression in the United States. Many of the images appeared in popular magazines. The photographers were under instruction from Washington, DC, as to what overall impression the New Deal wanted to portray. Stryker's agenda focused on his faith in social engineering, the poor conditions among tenant cotton farmers, and the very poor conditions among migrant farm workers; above all, he was committed to social reform through New Deal intervention in people's lives. Stryker demanded photographs that "related people to the land and vice versa" because these photographs reinforced the RA's position that poverty could be controlled by "changing land practices." Though Stryker did not dictate to his photographers how they should compose the shots, he did send them lists of desirable themes, for example, "church", "court day", and "barns". Stryker sought photographs of migratory workers that would tell a story about how they lived day-to-day. He asked Dorothea Lange to emphasize cooking, sleeping, praying, and socializing.[15] RA-FSA made 250,000 images of rural poverty. Fewer than half of those images survive and are housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. The library has placed all 164,000 developed negatives online.[16] From these, some 77,000 different finished photographic prints were originally made for the press, plus 644 color images, from 1600 negatives. Documentary films The RA also funded two documentary films by Pare Lorentz: The Plow That Broke the Plains, about the creation of the Dust Bowl, and The River, about the importance of the Mississippi River. The films were deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. World War II activities During World War II, the FSA was assigned to work under the purview of the Wartime Civil Control Administration, a subagency of the War Relocation Authority. These agencies were responsible for relocating Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast to Internment camps. The FSA controlled the agricultural part of the evacuation. Starting in March 1942 they were responsible for transferring the farms owned and operated by Japanese Americans to alternate operators. They were given the dual mandate of ensuring fair compensation for Japanese Americans, and for maintaining correct use of the agricultural land. During this period, Lawrence Hewes Jr was the regional director and in charge of these activities.[17] Reformers ousted; Farmers Home Administration After the war started and millions of factory jobs in the cities were unfilled, no need for FSA remained.[citation needed] In late 1942, Roosevelt moved the housing programs to the National Housing Agency, and in 1943, Congress greatly reduced FSA's activities. The photographic unit was subsumed by the Office of War Information for one year, then disbanded. Finally in 1946, all the social reformers had left and FSA was replaced by a new agency, the Farmers Home Administration, which had the goal of helping finance farm purchases by tenants—and especially by war veterans—with no personal oversight by experts. It became part of Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty in the 1960s, with a greatly expanded budget to facilitate loans to low-income rural families and cooperatives, injecting $4.2 billion into rural America.[18] The Great Depression The Great Depression began in August 1929, when the United States economy first went into an economic recession. Although the country spent two months with declining GDP, the effects of a declining economy were not felt until the Wall Street Crash in October 1929, and a major worldwide economic downturn ensued. Although its causes are still uncertain and controversial, the net effect was a sudden and general loss of confidence in the economic future and a reduction in living standards for most ordinary Americans. The market crash highlighted a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits for industrial firms, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth.[19]
  • Type: Negative
  • Subject: New York
  • Year of Production: 1946

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